Conference misery::feline_v1

    
    Mine mumma kitty likes to "kill" a table scrap first!
    
    It only takes five minutes though!  8*)
    
    F.

    RE:  .0
    
    Heeheehee!!!  I bet that was something!  Better not ever treat
    her to a TV dinner! ;-)
    
    Each of mine has a different style of snagging table scraps:
    
    Charm:  The object is to get the food before anyone else
            does.  It doesn't matter whether you like it or 
            not, you can decide that later.  Leave basic apendages 
            intact so that Mom can continue to feed you.  Beg for
            Doritos.  Ignore fresh fish.
    
    Niniane:  The object is to get and eat the food in such a
            way that Charm doesn't know you're getting table
            scraps, unless they are fresh fish.  Ignore Doritos.
    
    Dream:  Make Mom hold the table scrap in front of you until
            her arm falls asleep, but show enough interest
            that she doesn't give it to Charm.  Sniff for five 
    	    minutes, lick for ten.  Take it in your teeth and 
    	    drop it on the floor. Paw once or twice and then ask 
            for more.  Hoard until Charm shows up, then eat.
    
    Boogie: Ingore everyone else.  Ask for scraps only while
            Charm is busy eating.  If Charm comes near you
            bop her on the head.  Beg for turkey.  Ignore
            liver.  See if you can get Mom to get out the
            Galkie Kitty Tease instead, since you'd really
            rather play than eat.
    
    Mips and Belle:  Food is the goal.  Push everyone else
            out of the way.  Remember, we're small and
            cute and Mom will defend us!!!
    
    
    Mary-Michael

    Gosh,Elaine, don't you hold tidbits up for her so she can nibble on
    them.  Poor baby!  What a heartless Mommy :-)
    

    
    I think your cat deserves a lot of points for patience and technique.
    Spot, the chow hound, would never leave *ANYTHING* edible around
    for that long.  Peas, however are not edible, they are cat toys.
    
    The one and only time Spot ever bit me was when she was LUNGING,
    (I mean this cat came flying out of a chair at my hand and grabbed
    before she hit the floor) to beat Panther to a piece of turkey that
    I was offering.  OUCH!!  
    
    Feline Gluttons don't play with food,
    
    Sue & Panther & Spot
    

    That is soooooooooooo funny.. Pookie is the sniffer,, and she
    considers"human food an insult".. except fro a wee bit of cheese,
    and Hagen daz vanilla, or ben and jerrys vanilla.. very rarely
    as an ok thing.. she does like borccolli.. she call them trees..
    oh yeah my mom gave her what she thought was treat one day..
    sleatest ice cream.. she sniffed, looked up at Nana, and flung the
    dish across the floor.. and "stalked off".... Happy just eats,,
    she will eat anything.. from Pizza (loaded).. to an english muffin..
    she also enjoys a sip of soda now and again.. she does have troble
    with a glass.. so we just tip it over and lick up everything..
    she has also eaten toothpaste before..she also talks with her mouth ful
    of food.. sshe carries on this conversation as she is eating.. ti is a
    riot.. Pookie goes crazy after awhile andf walk over and hiss,
    and spit at her and belt her one.. doesn't bother Happy , she continues
    you to eat.. and yak..
    regards
    Kate

    
    
    	HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!
    
    	I love listening to these kitty stories.
    
    	Sasha tries to be sneaky.  She'll wander around the kitchen
    	underneath the table.  And then when we're not looking (or so
    	she thinks) she jumps up into a chair.  And just barely peeks
    	over the edge.  All I can see are her ears and eyes.  Then
    	she'll stick one paw on the table...but before she can get
    	the other one up there, mummy or daddy catch her and scoot
    	her down.
    
    	Duke will growl at us until we give him something.  then
    	he will guard it with his life.  !  grr grr grr!!!  it's
    	quite funny.
    
    	

    I also get a kick out of seeing Flame drink - he does his water dance,
    often all four paws patting around, then he pretty much puts his lower jaw
    in the dish and licks up the water. I've had to wipe his face off to
    prevent getting soaked when he comes up on my lap.
    
    Exotic shorthairs are as entertaining as bad television, but I think
    cats are either very entertained by, or very bored by, us humans.
    
    jack
    who's_been_a_cat_toy_for_years
    

    Purrrrr-sonally,  I find cats far more entertaining than "bad" TV
    Mr. Cunniff!  For example, just this morning I got to watch Flame
    try to jump up onto a kitchen chair - and miss!  Right now Bumpy
    is standing in my lap  butting my hand as I try to type.
    
    Hey - E.T.  Is Lilly clumsy too or is it just Flame?  Oh - and this
    guy loves ice cream - and has been known to eat
       RASPBERRY YOGURT!

    
    Hee-hee!! :^}
    
    Well, our Siamese have been known to attack the Domino's person on
    sight, and God forbid we leave any crumbs in the box after we're done
    with it!  The 'things that go bump in the night' are really taking
    apart a pizza box.
    
    Also, the latest fun toy is a helium balloon with a loooong ribbon
    attached.  This provides several days of good exercise for kitties and
    hilarity for humans. . . the best is watching their little faces when
    the balloon gets to the stairwell and slowly floats up out of reach.
    
    
    
    

    I have a "thing that goes bump in the night" too!
    
    Charm (aka "Hooverkitty"), who will tip over the
    wastebasket and jump up on the counter to sample
    the "leftovers!"
    
    I'll never forget the night I was handing out pieces
    of freshly cooked chicken neck and giblets (a rare
    treat).  Things were going fairly well (miminal hissing,
    swatting and climbing up Mom) when suddenly Charm walked up,
    and instead of the small piece I had carefully picked off for her, 
    grabbed the entire chicken neck I had in my other hand took off!
    If you have never seen a grown woman chasing a cat with a greasy 
    chicken neck over a myriad terrain of upholstered furniture and 
    wall to wall carpeting, you would have been in for a real treat!  
    I wasn't worried so much about the furniture and carpet (although 
    it did cross my mind) as I didn't want Charmy swallowing bones.  
    I finally caught her, and had to pry the chicken neck out of her 
    mouth amid a Siamese aria of protestations.  She sulked for hours..... ;-)
    
    Mary-Michael

    
    
    	re: Mary-Michael...
    
    	Maybe my Dukie is part Siames!!  Sounds just like what
    	he does!!
    
    	JJ
    

    re:3  
    
    Karen, I do I do I reall do, BUT, she doesn't really know what to
    do with them and she lets them fall out of her mouth or just drops
    them, then she pushes them around or snorts them around.  She is
    a little strange, what can I say?  You sorta gotta see it to really
    believe it.
    
    She eats her Perform kitten chow one piece at a time - they are
    tiny little round pieces.  It takes her forever to eat a meal!
    
    Believe me, Lil is not a poor baby!  She is a spoiled brat!
    
    

    re: 8
    
    Sorry Nance, it sorta runs in the family!  They are a tad clutzy!
    Poor Lil mostly misses when she jumps from the floor to the counter/
    sink for a drink.  Every time I look at her, she a a huge glob of
    water hanging of the end of her chin!  Really weird.  
    
    Yes, she is a very very patient cat!  The only fast thing she
    does is run through the house like a brown bullet! or when I
    am trying to catch her to do something to her that she isn't
    in the mood to have me do, then, she is GONE! yakking and
    chattering even though she thinks she is hiding under something,
    the silly fool doesn't realize that I can still hear her chattering
    to herself!  
    
    E.T.

    
    
    RE: .9 Balloons,
    
    My two *LOVE* balloons.  But being the diverse creatures that they
    are we have to either have two balloons, (one for each) or one balloon
    with two long ribbons.
    
    The game goes like this:
    
    Mummie brings the balloon into the house and calls the brats, I
    hold the balloon fairly close to the floor, and let them get a sniff.
    Panther usually tells me to "Let go Mummie, I want to play with
    this big ball!"  Mummie lets go and, it never fails, the look of
    utter astonishment on her face!  I love it!!
    
    Purrpp,,,"IT FELL UP?!?!???"  WHAT KIND OF BALL IS THAT?"  That is
    when Spot notices the ribbon and batts at it then, being the greedy
    little brat that she is, grabs it in her mouth and RUNS......It
    doesn't take too long for her to notce that she is being followed.
    
    "YIPES!"  She runs faster, still holding on the the ribbon.  That's
    when Panther starts to chase the trailing ribbon, and Mummie and
    Daddie watch and laugh and laugh and laugh.....
    
    Sometimes Panther manages to catch the trailing ribbon hard enough
    to tear it out of Spot's grip and she sits there looking silly with
    a balloon hanging out of her mouth and Spot will then go and play
    with the other trailing ribbon or maybe try a game of tug of war.
    
    We don't bring home balloons too often, I'd hate if they got used
    to them! 
    
    Feline games are fun to watch!
    
    Sue & Panther & Spot
    

    This weekend I happened to be in a German deli, and out of nostalgia
    bought some Thuringer sausage.  (I'm, a veggie 99% of the time.)
    S&H went wild when I brought it home;  it's apparently even better than
    turkey and chicken.  LB was outside in parts unknown, and so
    missed the treat.
    

    Emmenthal cheese - mind you Tarot will eat ANYTHING - but the cheese
    is one of the things he will climb my legs for - ouch!

    We keep the girls dry food up on the kitchen counter so that the
    dog won't get it.
    
    Often we'll hear this scrabbling around in the kitchen.  It will be
    Missy who loves to take one IAMS piece off the place, push it over
    the side of the counter onto the floor, then chase it around for
    a while before she eats it.  Then she repeats the entire process!
    
    It's hysterical.  Of course, she is the tail chaser and the one
    who will fight the "other cat" in the mirror, window, or any other
    place that reflects.
    
    The other 2 love to play too (how 3 small cats can sound like a herd
    of elephants is beyond me) but, when it comes to eating, they are
    all business.
    
    Barbara, Melody, Missy, and Brittany

    re: .17 Well don't you know...she has to be sure its dead before
    she eats it  :-)

Re: batting around kibble before eating it...

Nicholas (long-tail) invented a rather elaborate form of kitchen-floor hockey
using the Dog food kibble (it's bigger and has better spin or something - it
is the preferred "hockey Puck") and has instructed Hannah in the finer points
of the game.  In the middle of the night now I hear:

skittle...skittle...thump...skittle..thump.thump.thump....skittle...crunch.

(the winner gets to eat the puck after a good round)....

Then Hannah runs in and "tells" me all about the fun - sigh.  At 3:00 in
the morning, I tend to wish she wasn't QUITE so Siamese...always talking,
giggling, and mumbling to herself..

			Tired, but I love 'em...

    
    Nippa has developed a strange way of eating her kat krunchies.  And
    I hadn't really noticed this method until I starting reading this note.
    In case you arn't familiar with the shape, it is the basic 'X' shape
    dry kibble.  I always put a fresh serving in her bowl daily, and notice
    I am always dumping out these little bits.  Apparently, she likes to 
    bite into one X at a time.  If an end gets bit off and falls into the 
    bowl, she won't go back to eat it.  In fact, if she's really hungry, 
    she'll push around the little bits, until she finds a whole X to eat.
    she'll give me is pitiful look, like 'mommy, you can't expect me to eat
    THAT now, can you?'. But she won't eat the little bits....silly girl!
    
    She also love people food, like peas and spinich, golden grams, cake,
    icecream.....ect....  but she has lots of fun with the food she can bat
    around for awhile and then peirce it with one claw to eat it.  She is
    real funny to watch.                                 

    Maybe she can't pick up the little bits.
    

    I'd thought of that, but it's something she's just started.....and 
    if I leave her for the weekend, they are usually gone....So I believe
    she's just being fussy
    

    
    
    Mine baby kitty eats anything too.  When she was a kitten, she wanted
    to eat anything I ate, whatever it was!!  Now that she's about a
    year old, she's more fussy and will eat only chips, pretzals,
    chocolate, toast, or basically *anything* crunchy.  Now mumma kitty
    will hardly eat a table scrap of chicken - guess it doesn't run
    in the family!!
    
    Of course I only give her a little bit and say thats enough!!!
    
    F.

These "watching the cat eat" stories are hilarious!  They really
are better than TV.  A friend of ours had a picky old cat, Chelsea,
who would ONLY eat the brand(s) of food with the hole in the middle.
It seems that he would reach his paw into his food dish, catch a piece
of food on his claw, and daintily nibble it.  He looked just like
someone at a cocktail party eating hors d'ouvres.

Paul (Dad to many, Uncle to more...)

    RE: .23 - I seem to recall something about Chocolate being dangerous
    for kitties.  Can anyone confirm this?
    
    I gave Flame one pea last night and was sadly disappointed when
    all he did was eat it!  I gave him another one, but he complained
    that he'd eaten enough vegetables already!
      Nancy DC

    
    
    I know what you mean about watching cats eat, if I don't watch my
    girls eat, Piglet (AKA Spot) will shoulder Panther out of (Panther's)
    dish, eat her food then go back to her (Spot's) own dish and finish
    her meal.  
    
    Panther is a smart cat, but usually non beligerent, she figures
    that she will wait until Spot is done then eat what ever is left.
    The problem is that Spot NEVER leaves anything in her dish.  She
    figures as long as there is food she will eat.
    
    Neither cat will EAT peas, (they love to play with them,) but Panther
    LOVES spinach.  She licks it right off my finger and asks for more!
    Panther likes chocolate too, but I only let her have a taste, I
    herd that too much isn't good for cats.  Besides, I don't like to
    share MY ;-) chocolate with any one.  
    
    I have to watch homemade chocolate chip cookies though.  Panther
    has been known to snatch them out of my hands when I wasn't looking!!!
    She reaches right over and bites off a chunk and RUNS.  She knows
    she is being bad, but she can't help herself.  It fugures, like
    Mummie, like Kittie, she's a chocoholic too!  Sigh...at least it's
    a vice I can understand.
    
    Feline a chocolate attack coming on.....
    
    Sue & Panther & Spot
        

    
    
    Oh!  I don't think sugar is at all good for cats..  if I'm eating
    a candy bar or something and baby kitty comes over and she has to
    have what mom is eating I can't resist and give her about this much.
    
    **
    
    Approx. that wide, that thick!
    
    F.

    Opus and Cloud have discovered a new treat in our house. We've been
    rather broke lately and eating lots of spaghetti--they love it!
    I'll get up and go into the kitchen, come back to my food and there
    are the two of them slurping up strands of spaghetti! The only bad
    thing is that both of them have white chests which end up red with
    spaghetti sauce--as well as their paws--and the floors--and the
    upholstery.  Thank god we usually catch them and confine them or
    clean them up before they can do too much damage.
    
    Michelle

    I found with my mob, Michelle, that it isn't at all the spaghetti they
    enjoy but rather the tomato sauce!  They just find it easier to slurp
    the spaghetti whole rather than lick it to get the sauce.
    
    							=maggie

    Maggie-
    
    I think you're probably right. They're smart--but lazy!
    
    Michelle

    re: .26
    Gee, another chocaholic. I was beginning to think that Kudzu was
    weird or something. I gave him a taste of chocolate frosting when
    he was 3 mos. old and now he hears candy wrappers at 50 ft. Its
    impossible to eat any chocolate sitting down around him. The others
    (3 siblings and mom) could care less.
    
    Another interesting food I found because I have a bird. I'm in the 
    bird file occasionally and found a great recipe for good fresh food 
    for my parrot. Well after whipping up rice, baby food (strained
    chicken), frozen veggies, wheat germ and a little oil, the cats acted 
    like I had just opened a can of cat food. This is mostly veggies but
    they absolutely devoured it. But then again these cats will eat
    anything, including an avocado once, skin and all. All I found was
    the pit.
    
    The veggie recipe is very good and can be found in the bird notes
    file. Its an early note. Might make a good treat.
    
    The food stories are very funny, thanks!
    
    Lianne, and (big breath), Kudzu, Nefertiti, Ignatious, Thisby and
    Katja and Ubu_the_parrot_who_tolerates_the_cats.

    Be careful with the chocolate.  I think someone mentioned in the
    holiday hazzards note the chocolate is very dangerous for cats and
    dogs.
    
    					Mary

    I bought my husband a chocolate turkey lollipop for Thanksgiving.
    The next day I heard Zula playing with plastic behind the bed. 
    I didn't know what it was.  We have a king size waterbed so can't
    move it.  That night my husband asked me where his lollipop went
    to.  I said "oh oh, I heard Zula playing with plastic last night".
    I took a coat hanger and fished for about 20 minutes and finally
    pulled out my husbands chocolate lollipop.  It was half eaten and
    had tons of kitty teeth marks in it.
    
    I guess Zula wanted a chocolate treat for Thanksgiving too.
    Have to hide EVERYTHING from him.  I have a cold and my package
    of tissues dissapeared from my night stand.  Fished behind the bed
    and finally pulled them out.  SHREDDED to pieces!
    
    Pam